Keladry of Mindelan - Page
by shy-ink-pen
Summary: This is just a fun story - Kel is well trained, beautiful, and about to start page training. My thoughts of how "page" could have went
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: The Characters are NOT mine - They Belong to Tamera Pierce. I HAVE taken liberty with some ages, and making some things OOC from the book. I hope you enjoy

"Now. I expect you to treat our new page as if she were just another student. She will not be receiving any special privileges, other than a personal room with a wash area for privacy. She will train with you, eat with you, study with you. Now. I DO expect you to act appropriately. No fraternization. Do you all understand?" Lord Wyndolyn looked over his pages, and was ultimately worried. He knew that Keladry of Mindelan was beautiful, even for a girl of 11. Why she wanted to pursue this was beyond his understanding. He had spoken with her parents, and her older siblings, and they all backed her up. Loed Wyndolyn sighed, and then realized the pages were all still there, waiting for him to release them or say something else. "Thank you for your attention. You may have study period until the dinner bell." The pages all stood, bowed, and left the room, quietly talking among themselves.

Dom of Marrisbole and his cousin Neal of Queenscove stood with the other pages, bowed to their training-master, and quietly joined the rest of the pages leaving the large conference room. Cleon of Kent, and Merric of Merryrose, two of their year-mates and friends caught up with them as they were headed toward the library to study. "So - what do you think of this girl trying to be a knight?" Merric of Merryrose broke the silence with the question that they all were thinking. "Well, to be honest," Cleon of Kent started, "I think that she has the right to try. After all, where would the King be without Alanna the Lioness?" Dom and Neal murmured their agreement, still not really talking. "Ok Guys. Spill. What is it that you know that we don't. " Merric watched them closely. "Is the really ugly? Does she have one arm? What is it?" Dom and Neal still said nothing, which irritated Merric even more.

Finally, Dom spoke slowly. "You see, we know Keladry - well, Kel, to her friends. Her father is an ambassador, and when they returned from the Yamani Islands, they had to stay in seclusion at the castle to make sure they were healthy enough to go back home. Kel was the first to be released, so we were put in charge of showing her around. She's not ugly, deformed, or anything like that. In fact, it's quite the opposite. She is actually very beautiful."

Neal spoke up at this point "I think that's why The Stump is so concerned about the rest of us, and making sure that we know to treat her the same as everyone else. She is sure to turn heads, and she is only a year behind us age-wise. Year-Wise, she will be a second year page." Cleon looked up, startled. "But at 11, she should be a first-year, not a second year." Cleon and Merric looked startled, and annoyed at the same time. Neal explained "You see, Kel trained with the Imperial family. She is at our level, even if she is still 11. She is fully trained in Shang-Combat, she already has passed riding with the quatrain, she was working on learning to joust when they moved back so she could start here." Dom, Neal, Cleon, and Merric all got quiet again. They were all thinking the same thing:

Things were about to change at the Palace, and it would be interesting to see just how much


	2. Chapter 2

*DisClaminer: I do not own the characters - they belong to Tamera Pierce

Keladry of Mindelan, or "Kel" to her friends sighed and looked around her room. "One last check" she thought to herself as she roamed the room that she would be leaving far behind. She opened her closet, and looked at the dresses that she could be wearing, but instead would be wearing the uniform of a Page. A Knight-In-Training. Kel sighed again. "Backing out already?" Her brother Innes of Mindelan leaned against the doorframe, watching her. "Not at all." Kel turned and smiled. Innes was her second oldest brother, and the brother she was closest too. Her other two brothers, Anders and Conal, well, she figured that if she claimed them, she was doing pretty well on that day. "Are you needing something? I was just finishing up my packing." Kel smiled a small smile. After years spent on the Yamani Islands, she was trained not to show emotion, but small amounts seemed to creep up around her family. Innes sighed and came into her room. He settled on a chair by the window, and motioned Kel to take the other. Kel smoothed out her skirts - she was wearing a dress for the last time, she thought to herself - and sat down. Innes looked out the window for a few more moments, and then looked at Kel. "Kel. I know that you know how hard this will be. This will be different and more difficult than when we were training with the Emperor's family. On top of that, with all of your training that you have already had, you are already skipping one year of page training. That in of itself will make you a target. You will be the first girl since Alanna to try for her shield, you are 11 and coming into the year a little late, plus starting as a second year." Kel acknowledged his words with a tilt of her head. Innes continued "I just wanted to come and tell you that, if you decide that you don't want to do this, that it is too hard, that you would rather go back to the Islands, all you have to do is write. Your offer with the Emperor still stands. He stated that it would for 1 year." Kel nodded her understanding again, then spoke. "Innes. Thank you. I know that it will be hard. I know that things are already being said. It's not fair, but it is what it is. Dancing, small talk - those don't appeal to me. The super frilly dresses, they have their place, regular day dresses are fine. I WON'T miss trying to keep the hems of my dresses clean in the spring muds!" Kel and Innes laughed. "Honestly Innes, although I am worried, and truthfully, slightly scared, this is the path that I have chosen, and I am well aware of the obstacles that I will be facing. Not only do I have to prove to the other pages that I deserve to be there, that I can keep up and do what they do, I have to prove it to the rest of the realm as well. In Two Years time, if I can pass the end of year tests, I will be awaiting selection to be a squire. People will be watching me all the time to see if and when I will mess up, make a mistake, or give up and come home. None of those are options for me. Kel's voice had started to raise and she had begun pacing while she talked, a sign to Innes that she was more stressed and worried than she was trying to let on. Inness got up, and gave his little sister a hug. "Kel, I know you can do it. If you ever need to talk, you know you can always write and pour it out." Kell hugged him back tightly. She would miss their brother/sister talks. They always had a way of making her feel better. "Love you Innes." "Love you Kel"


	3. Chapter 3 - Part 1

** DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters or any part of the Protector of the Small Quartet. Those belong to the talented Tamara Pierce

 **Here is Part 1 of Chapter Three!**

Dom and Neal stood outside of Lord Wyndoln's door. They had been summoned after the lunch bell, and neither of them knew why. As they walked slowly to their training-master's office, they quietly discussed the mischief they had done that week. Nothing, they concluded, had been bad enough to warrant being sent to him, but you never knew with The Stump, as Neal referred to him as.

As they approached the door, they could hear Lord Wyndolyn speaking to someone "I am terribly sorry for the delay. I summoned two of your year-mates to come and show you around, but they are late." Dom and Neal looked at each other and walked quicker to the door. They started to knock just as the door opened "Ahh. There you are. I had worried that you had gotten yourself lost, but then remembered that you have a trail leading from your room to my office." The person inside started to laugh, but tried, unsuccessfully, to hide it with a cough. "Now, if you are done lollygagging around, please come in"

Neal and Dom stepped inside the office, where, usually, they were getting reprimanded for something they had done. Switching labels on non-harmful medicines in the infirmary, glue and tacks on teachers chairs, and other things that boys did at the age of 12. Never mind that they were supposed to be training to be knights. Lord Wyndolyn always just shook his head as they left, knowing that they would soon be returning for something or another.

Lord Wyndolyn motioned them both to chairs at the side of his desk. Neal and Dom finally looked at who was sitting in the office with them. "KEL!" they both shouted as they noticed who was there. Lord Wyndolyn sighed and sat down. He wasn't sure that this was the best idea, but, Neal's father, the Chief Palace Healer had spoken to him, without the boys knowledge.

"Lord Wyndolyn" Baird of Queenscove knocked lightly on the training-master's door shortly after the meeting with the pages was over. Lord Wyndolyn motioned the healer into the office and he closed the door on his way in. "I assume that the talk with the other pages went well?" "As well as could be expected, I assume" the training-master replied. "Noone has said anything, but that doesn't' mean much. I worry about what might happen. There are some that I know will not be treating her the same. They will moon over her, or worse, try to drive her away" "Will she have a Page-Sponsor?" The healer asked. This was something that he had not thought of yet. Would she? Usually a page-sponsor was reserved for a first year page to show them around the castle, how things worked, where classes were, and other necessary things that were needed to know about. Keladry was coming in as a second year page with all of her prior training. Why, she might just out fight some of the boys her age! "To be honest, it isn't something I had considered for her since Page- Sponsor's are usually for a first year page." The Baird nodded, he had assumed as much before he had asked. "May I suggest Neal and Dom?" As Lord Wyndolyn started to reply, the Barid quickly continued "I Know, I know. They are always in some sort of mischief, always doing something they shouldn't. But they know Kel, and I believe will help her ease into the different lifestyle she will be living here." Lord Wyndolyn thought that over. He supposed that the Barid was right - the palace here would be different than living in the Yamani Islands where she studied with only the noblewomen of the court. "Do you think they can do it and not cause mischief in the process." Lord Wyndolyn asked. "No. They will cause mischief, but I believe that Kel can maybe help them NOT make as much, and I do believe that they will help, if not her, the other pages be more welcome. Or as welcoming as some of them will be" The Baird and the training-master both sat quietly, each lost in their own thoughts. Lord Wyndolyn sighed " Very Well. Neal and Dom will be her page-sponsors for the year, but we will not tell them ahead of time." "Thank You" The Baird quietly left the office and went back to his other duties


End file.
